Masterminds Poster

Masterminds (2016)

Action | Crime 
Rayting:   5.8/10 51.2K votes
Country: USA
Language: English | Spanish
Release date: 6 October 2016

A guard at an armored car company in the Southern U.S. organizes one of the biggest bank heists in American history. Based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery.

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bkrauser-81-311064 3 October 2016

Welp, it looks like the dunderheads at the now bankrupt Relativity Media LLC. Are hell-bent in giving us yet another doozy before the year's end. What kind of rightfully shelved prattle do they have for us to mull over and regret buying a $10 ticket for this week? A Zach Galifianakis helmed caper comedy about a love-struck loser turned armored truck robber co-starring Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig and Owen Wilson? That doesn't seem so bad.

Well it gets bad folks, real bad. The kind of bad that gives even the most forgiving audience the urge to check their messages before sneaking into Storks (2016) to "check on the kids." Masterminds is an unholy mix of good ideas and concepts made painfully unfunny due bad editing, sloppy storytelling and an over-reliance on the same- old ugly American jokes not funny since Bush was in the White House.

The bang adorned Galifianakis plays David Ghantt, a trailer park doofus whose job as an armored car driver fills his head with notions of tense Mexican standoffs and Lee Marvin inspired bravado. His regular partner Kelly (Wiig) passively encourages his flights of fancy, joining him at the shooting range for target practice and openly discussing what she'd do if she was Phillip Johnson; a Loomis Fargo employee that tried to run off with $18 million. Convinced by Kelly's womanly charms and a heist plan masterminded by Kelly's friend Steve Chambers (Wilson), Ghantt decides to follow directives to steal the cash from the Loomis Fargo vault and run off to Mexico for a lovers' rendezvous.

On paper, Masterminds has a decent amount going for it. The movie's story attracted quite a few members of SNL's (1975-present) present star lineup including Kate McKinnon as Ghantt's awkward wife, Leslie Jones as the fussy lead FBI investigator and Jason Sudeikis as a frightfully obtuse hit-man. The film is directed by Jared Hess the man responsible for bringing deadpan anti-humor into the mainstream with Napoleon Dynamite (2004)Â…so clap if you're into that. Mix in Galifianakis's personal brand of cringe-antics and Owen Wilson's inference to his character in Bottle Rocket (1996) and you got yourself quite a lot to root for.

Unfortunately, this film is much like a foul smelling casserole made with biscuits, Funions and eight-year-old Velvetta; individually each component sounds appetizing enough but clumping all these things together creates a slurry of colon clogging flotsam. The stranger than fiction tale of the Loomis Fargo robbery could have been, should have been a movie about class dispossession. Lacking that, it could have scored some points simply by dialing up the wacky. Yet Hess's inability to graduate his images from weird to laugh-inducing, mutes the good stuff from hitting its frequency. Nowhere is this more clear than when Galifianakis dons bad disguise after bad disguise in order to blend in.

Everyone in this film shamelessly acts out their best Joe Dirt (2001) impression, likely enjoying each other's company to the detriment of the audience. In so doing, they come up no funny lines or endeavor to make their characters anything more than poorly defined caricatures. The film then pads the narrative's plot-points to the brink; insuring whatever tiny morsels manage to get a giggle remain few and far between. By the time the robbery takes place (a mire half-hour into the film), all humor has ceased and all opportunities for humor have long choked on the lack of oxygen,

In a confounding moment

KATO-SUBZERO 15 October 2016

Fmovies: 15 October 2016: Masterminds is a good funny movie, once again proving that a comedy movie can be funny without all the hard core profanity cursing in a movie. Greek American actor, Zack Galifianakis is great with all the Abbott & Costello gags. Actress, Kristen Wiig is funny, talented, sexy and cute. Owen Wilson always stands out and does a good comedy performance. The rest of the cast is ho hum boring.

This movie is on the comedy movie lines of "Airplane", "Naked Gun", "Paul Blart". All of them are great movies, funny and proof is Not a lot of unnecessary cursing is needed to be a successful movie.

For good clean fun that little kids can also watch, I recommend seeing this movie for a good laugh.

lee_eisenberg 12 June 2017

Jared Hess's "Masterminds" is the sort of movie that you'll appreciate if you accept low humor. I do. It might be a surprise to learn that the movie is based on a true story (the October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery). I'm sure that a lot of what the movie shows is added for comic relief, and to let the cast members do their stuff. Even so, they lay everything out quite well, as the scheme's main man sets up the armored car driver as a patsy.

While Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig are the top-billed stars, some of the best lines come from Leslie Jones (if she's in a movie, you know that it's gonna be good). As expected, Kate McKinnon and Jason Sudeikis also turn in good performances. Basically, the combination of the heist, the snappy dialogue, and the occasional gross-out humor makes for one funny movie. Betcha never thought that an Enya song would get used this way!

It's also gotten noted that three of the four modern Ghostbusters star in this movie. 2016's "Ghostbusters" is a criminally underrated movie. It's hard to believe that there are people who call it one of the worst movies ever while still regarding as masterpieces the obnoxious "Everyone Says I Love You", the vacuous "Eyes Wide Shut", and the pointless "Man on the Moon".

namashi_1 28 November 2016

Masterminds fmovies. Despite a set of tremendous comedic actors, 'Masterminds' isn't half as funny as it ought to have been. It has some moments, but they aren't enough to pass this delayed release as a winner.

'Masterminds' Synopsis: A guard at an armored car company in the Southern U.S. organizes one of the biggest bank heists in American history. Based on the October 1997 Loomis Fargo robbery.

'Masterminds' tries to adapt a crazy true-story into a much crazier film. Sadly, it only engages in bits. I enjoyed the sub-plot of the hero & his crazy girlfriend (Zach Galifianakis & Kate McKinnon), but the main plot doesn't bring out the best laughs. Also, the jokes are too crass & get silly after a point. Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer & Emily Spivey's Screenplay is alright. Its only sporadically funny. Jared Hess's Direction is just passable.

Performance-Wise: 'Masterminds' rests on the madness of its cast. Zach Galifianakis can be dumb & funny more than anyone else can right now & hence, he's spot-on. Kristen Wiig is irresistible, even though she doesn't much scope. Owen Wilson is okay. Jason Sudeikis is absurd, yet entertaining. Leslie Jones hams. Kate McKinnon is fantastic as Zach's crazy girlfriend & she, completely steals the show.

On the whole, 'Masterminds' isn't funny enough. Nonetheless, watch it if you must!

Reno-Rangan 14 March 2017

The film reminded me 'Pain & Gain', only for inspiring from the real and being the comedy flicks. Other than that there's nothing in common between them. I have been expecting a lot from Zack since 'The Hangover', but it was always the near missed opportunities. I'm not saying this was his much needed breakthrough, but quite enjoyable film.

An honest man who worked long enough as a guard for a bank, was approached by his ex colleague and her men with an offer. Since he was madly in love with her, he could not say no to it, despite he already got engaged to another woman. As planned the heist goes on and once it was done, he was ditched and ratted out. Now on the run, how he responds to it and the following events decides his fate.

Not a great comedy nor a heist film, but it had its moments. The casting was good and it was Zack's show. The rest of them were not into that much, except in the final act. Jason Sudeikis was a bonus. His appearance added more fun. Now I know why Jim Carrey opted out. Owen Wilson's part was not good enough in such a small role, he did good though. Watching it for timepass is fine or even for beyond that seems not a bad try.

7/10

dave-mcclain 4 October 2016

Stories about stupid criminals are funny. And when those stories are true, besides laughing, we find ourselves shaking our heads in mocking disbelief. Just think about how many times you've read such stories in an Email or heard them on the radio or on TV and how amused you were picturing what was being described. Well, "Masterminds" (PG-13, 1:34) brings us a true story of stupid criminals in vivid detail – helped along by some of the funniest actors in movies today – including a few "Saturday Night Live" veterans. This ensemble comedically dramatizes the true story of a 1997 North Carolina Loomis Fargo robbery, which remains one of the biggest heists in U.S. history. Although the script by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer and Emily Spivey, along with the direction of Jared Hess ("Napoleon Dynamite", "Nacho Libre") and the comic stylings of the talented cast, adds a significant amount of humor to the action, the film's story and many of its details stick very close to the facts of the case.

David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis) is a clumsy and socially awkward, but basically honest and well-meaning armored car driver in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is engaged to the even more awkward and self-centered trailer park dwelling Jandice (played with a sort of catatonic glee by SNL's Kate McKinnon), but David has fallen for his fellow driver, Kelly Campbell (Kristen Wiig). Kelly lives (also in a mobile home) with an old friend named Steve Chambers (Owen Wilson) and his wife, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Ellis). When Steve hears on the news about a recent Loomis Fargo robbery, he hatches a scheme to use Kelly's connection to David to get him to rob Charlotte's Loomis Fargo. Kelly is reluctant to play on David's affections, but she'd love to get a share of that money and David is tempted by the promise of a new life with Kelly down in Mexico. After Kelly "trains" David for the things that he'll have to do to commit the robbery (and how to possibly "live off the land" until it's "safe" for Kelly to join him in Mexico), and with the help of a few other down-on-their-luck (and none-too-bright) co-conspirators, the plan is all set.

Let the comedic missteps begin! David is a trusted employee with keys to a Loomis Fargo vault, which he accesses after hours. In spite of his natural clumsiness and lack of logical thinking, David somehow manages to load a van with a fortune in bundled bills and gets the vehicle to his fellow criminals waiting outside. They stash the cash, giving David a few thousand dollars (stuffed into his underwear) for his flight to Mexico, where he thinks that he'll soon be reunited with Kelly. Back in North Carolina, an FBI agent (played by SNL's Leslie Jones) knows that David did the deed and she's working hard to piece together the rest of the puzzle. Steve gets nervous and decides to take out a contract on David, hiring an old friend turned hit man, Mike McKinney (Jason Sudeikis) for the job. Mike turns out to be a pretty unhinged hit man and his trip to Mexico in search of David ends up being a comedy of errors. David eventually figures out that he's the patsy and does his best to turn the tables on his partners in crime.

"Masterminds" is a hilarious send-up of that real-life heist from the late 90s. And not all comedies that depict real-life stupid criminals do the job this well. (See 2013's unfunny "Pain & Gain". And by "see", I mean as an example.

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